Global Commodities Forum - Session 3: The future of oil and gas dependent countries in an era of energy transition

14 September 2021
15:00 - 16:15 hrs. (CEST) /09:00-10:15 hrs. (AST)
Virtual Conference Centre, Frangipani Auditorium

The Global Commodities Forum is a major multi-stakeholder meeting to discuss pragmatic solutions to perennial problems of the commodity economy.

The theme of the 2021 Forum is “Strengthening Resilience in Commodity Dependent Countries”. It will connect policymakers with practitioners to address the current challenges and future opportunities for commodity-dependent economies.

The third session of the Forum will discuss challenges and opportunities economies exporting essentially oil and gas are facing in the context of climate change mitigation.

As the population continues to grow, so will the demand for affordable energy. The number of issues that need to be addressed in relation to this increasing demand is growing. While the arguments for the world to reach a carbon-neutral destination are not disputable, the best route to this new energy future is still being charted.

The recent COVID-19 crisis probably triggered a non-reversible process speeding up the transition pace. The work that needs to be done to realign these heavily dependent economies to support the overarching objective of climate change mitigation presents unique challenges and opportunities.

In this context, several issues need to be addressed:

  • How will countries and companies transition from fossil fuel dependence to fossil fuel independence?
  • What strategies should fossil fuel export-dependent countries adopt to adapt to the decline of the fossil fuel sector?
  • What is the scale of the investment required and what are the challenges and opportunities for investors and bankers? To what extent has the financial sector started to put its weight behind the transition to renewable energy?
  • What mechanisms – e.g. hedging – should be adopted to protect national economies and corporate entities from price shocks during the transition?
  • What are the skill sets needed in this new energy future and how do we train our people to take advantage of these opportunities?

 

Watch recording of Session 3

 

Registration and attendance

Registration and attendance are free of charge, but registration through UNCTAD website is mandatory for all participants, including invited government representatives, experts, and speakers.

We recommend each participant to log in to the event 20 minutes in advance to verify the quality and stability of their connection.

 

Our Partners

 

 
Rudy Van Beurden
Senior Vice President Public Affairs
FluxSwiss

Rudy Van Beurden has been Senior Vice President Public Affairs at FluxSwiss since 1 February 2020. Besides his current activities within the Fluxys group, he has been chairman of the Board of EASEE-gas from 2013 till 2019, a European association set up in 2002 in order to develop and promote business practices to simplify and streamline both physical gas transfer and trading across Europe. From 2015 till June 2020 he was also chairman of the board the Belgian gas association, gas.be.

Within Fluxys, and following the ownership unbundling into a fully independent gas infrastructure company, he became responsible for international business development of the company between 2008 and 2012. In 2012 he became the corporate Communication and Public Affairs Manager at Fluxys. 

Rudy Van Beurden graduated as an aeronautical engineer from the Polytechnical Division of the Royal Military Academy in Brussels.  After having served as a Belgian Air Force officer for about 10 years, Rudy Van Beurden started his career in the gas business in 1996 with the former integrated Belgian gas company Distrigas.  In the past he has been responsible for a wide range of operational, commercial, strategy and M&A activities within the company.  Within Distrigas he contributed to the creation and operational setup of the Zeebrugge trading hub and later became Managing Director of Huberator, an affiliate company, to manage the hub services.

René Bautz
Chairman
Global Gas Centre and CEO of GAZNAT SA

René Bautz is Chairman of the Global Gas Centre and also CEO of Gaznat SA, Chairman of Swiss Energy Trading (SET) and Gas&Com (Telecommunication), Board and Committee member of several companies and organizations within the gas industry: Fingaz, Swissgas, Swiss Gas Invest, Transitgas and Unigaz. He also acts at an international level in the frame of Eurogas, Green Gas Initiative.

In 2002, René Bautz joined Gaznat, starting his career in the company as Chief technical officer. He then served as Chief operating officer for two years before taking over as CEO of Gaznat.

René Bautz studied electrical engineering and holds a Master of Science degree from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). He dedicated his entire professional career to the energy sector. René Bautz held the position of Managing director at the Société Electrique des Forces de l’Aubonne (SEFA) for 5 years. Prior to this, he served as Director of the Utility of the town of Bienne (ESB). During this period, between 1994 and 2002, he was also Board member and manager of several companies within the water and energy industries.

The first 10 years of his career were spent at the power company Electricité Neuchâteloise (ENSA) as Head of the studies and construction. René Bautz then joined Câbles Cortaillod (now Nexans Switzerland) as Head of the electric network and testing division. As part of his training, he completed an internship on behalf of Brown Boveri Canada in Montreal where he participated in the development of a test platform for electric generators. He further completed his training in the field of business economics and management.

Arash Duero
Principal
Bingmann Pflüger International

Arash Duero specializes in the political and economic dimensions of energy resources and is a Senior Fellow at the European Cluster for Climate, Energy and Resource Security at the Centre for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies, University of Bonn.

Moreover, Arash is a Principal at Bingmann Pflüger International, one of Germany’s leading strategy consultancies specializing in energy, commodities and infrastructure. There, he heads its energy, commodities, and infrastructure operations and has for over a decade had the dual function of providing strategic and communications advice to both its Managing Partners as well as to a wide range of clients across multiple industries and functions. These include national governments, multilateral institutions, public and private corporations, infrastructure operators, SPVs, as well as national and international organizations. Arash also regularly serves as a Senior Expert at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, is an Advisor to the Global Gas Centre, is a Member of the Economic Council Germany and is a contributor to the Atlantik Brücke’s Working Group for Natural Resources and Critical Raw Materials.

He previously worked at the European Commission's Joint Research Center - Institute for Energy, as a researcher at the Environmental Policy Research Centre of the Free University in Berlin, as a research associate at the Berlin Centre for Caspian Region Studies, participated in the Resilien-tech Working Group of the German National Academy of Science and Engineering and was a long-time Senior Fellow at the European Centre for Climate, Energy and Resource Security, Department of War Studies, King’s College London.

A native of Savannah, Georgia, USA, Arash studied economics at Georgia Southern University and holds an advanced degree in Political Science with a focus on Macroeconomics and International Energy Policy from the Free University in Berlin, Germany.

Thackwray Driver
President & CEO
Energy Chamber of Trinidad & Tobago

Dr. Thackwray “Dax” Driver has been the Chief Executive Officer of the Energy Chamber of Trinidad & Tobago since 2003. He has pioneered numerous new initiatives and activities for the Energy Chamber, including the Safe to Work programme and the Learning Centre. He is the Immediate Past Chair of the Caribbean Chambers Network (CARICHAM).

He was previously the Chairman of the Trinidad & Tobago Economic Development Board and has been a Board member of the Trinidad and Tobago Coalition of Services Industries, the University of Trinidad & Tobago, and T&T Natural Gas Liquids Ltd. Prior to joining the Energy Chamber, he was the coordinator of Trinidad and Tobago’s Agricultural Sector Reform Programme. He has a Ph.D. in History from the University of London.


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